A woman who allegedly posed as a pilot to defraud people promising them jobs abroad has been remanded after being produced before the Aluthkade Magistrate’s Court, Hiru News reported on Saturday.
The suspect, a 44-year-old resident of Nochchiyagama in the Anuradhapura district, was arrested by the Colombo Fraud Investigation Bureau. A man said to be her husband was arrested with her in the Kurunegala area.
A bus sold to pay her
The investigation began with a complaint made in May by a bus owner from Piliyandala. The suspect had told him she was a pilot based at Ratmalana Airport and that relatives working overseas could arrange foreign employment for him, according to the Hiru report.
To collect the money, she arrived dressed in an air force uniform that investigators say was fake. The bus owner sold one of his buses to raise Rs. 6 million for her. In total, she is alleged to have taken more than Rs. 13.5 million from him across several separate payments.
After receiving the money she told him she had left the country and then avoided contact, prompting him to go to the police.
The Fraud Investigation Bureau also found that she had previously taken Rs. 2.2 million from a woman in the Matara area using the same offer of foreign employment.
Context
Foreign employment fraud is a recurring pattern in Sri Lanka, where demand for overseas work is high and recruitment is often arranged informally. Cases typically involve advance payments for jobs or visas that never materialise. The use of a uniform to establish credibility is a less common feature.
No charges have been reported beyond the remand order, and the amount recovered, if any, has not been disclosed. Hiru did not name the suspect or give the date to which she was remanded.
At the time of writing on Sunday morning, no other verified newsroom had carried the case, and Ada Derana’s Sinhala service could not be reached.
